A BUGGY WITH A VIEW + A LODGE CAST IRON GIVEAWAY

Whenever I was a little girl, many afternoons were spent gathering ingredients for our family dinners with my mom at our local grocery store in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The old, shuddering sliding glass doors warmly welcomed us. We made our way across the scuffed black and white checkered floor; my mom grabbed a shopping cart, also referred to as a buggy in the South. The buggies at our grocery store were unique; the area for groceries was shallow instead of deep like baskets nowadays. The end of the cart had a latch, so whenever you went to checkout, the checkout girl simply unlatched the end of the basket, like a truck bed and unloaded the groceries straight from the cart. But the most important thing to know about these buggies is that the distance between the bottom of the basket and the rack just above the wheels of the cart was an ideal space for a child to retreat to.

As soon as I nestled underneath the buggy, my mom made her routine stop to the deli counter to buy a pickle. She covertly handed it to me, going along with the charade that I was invisible to everyone else in the store except her. Now that I think about it, everyone probably thought I was a little odd as I had one leg propped up and the other leisurely dangling in midair as if I were floating on a pirogue in the bayou while slowly munching away on a pickle.

I enjoyed watching the cart fill up with ingredients for our supper. Emerald striped watermelons the size of a toddlers, dusty, earthy cantaloupes, bags and bags of long-grain rice, Mason jars of roux, pint-sized containers of cayenne pepper and ruby red homegrown tomatoes rolled around in the basket. I daydreamed about what we were having for dinner and quietly observed the other shoppers in the store, imagining what they were making for dinner as well. Sometimes I dreamt of what it would be like if everyone put all their groceries together on one endlessly long picnic table and had a great feast every night. I decided that would certainly establish world peace.

Things weren’t always seen for what they were, but what I imagined they could be. As a child, I was oblivious to the fact that not everyone saw the world the same as I did. And as I grew up, I realized I tasted the world around me differently as well.

Nashville Hot Chicken:

One of my favorite Southern dishes is fried chicken, so whenever I moved to Nashville, immediately I was introduced to Nashville’s cayenne crusted hot chicken, which has been known to make grown men weep. Traditionally, hot chicken is fried in a cast-iron skillet and crusted with a reddish cayenne paste, and is served with pickles and white bread, which gets soaked through with shockingly spicy orange hot chicken drippings. I love serving my spicy Roasted Nashville Hot Chicken with sweet Louisiana Maque Choux because it ties together two homes. My past and my present. Here’s to the hot summer days ahead.

{Because I love y’all, I am giving away a 15” Seasoned Steel Pan from Lodge Cast Iron. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below letting me know your favorite dish to prepare in your cast-iron between now and midnight June 4th. The winner will be chosen randomly and will be contacted via email on June 5th. Limit 1 comment per person, pretty please! PS For US residents only… Good luck, y’all!} Congrats to Sandy for being the winner of the giveaway!

Roasted Nashville Hot Chicken

Serves 4

Note: Traditionally, Nashville Hot Chicken is fried then tossed in a hot chicken paste. I prefer the method of pan-frying then finishing the thighs off in the oven. The result is crispy skin and juicy dark meat, and while the chicken finishes off in the oven, I have time to clean up the kitchen and get ready for company!

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

2 tablespoons of olive oil

6 tablespoons of clarified butter, melted (or you can use olive oil if you prefer)

5 tablespoons cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons of dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons of kosher salt

2 teaspoons of sweet, smoked paprika

Salt and pepper, to season

Preheat oven to 425oF

Taking a paper towel, gently blot the chicken thighs, making sure to remove any moisture from the surface of the chicken. This will ensure you get a nice crisp golden skin. Season both sides with salt and pepper.

In a large pan over medium high heat, preferably cast-iron or seasoned steel, heat the oil until it shimmers. Gently place the chicken thighs in the pan skin side down and fry until the skin is lightly golden brown. Flip the thighs over and immediately place the pan in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the thighs are completely cooked through and deeply golden brown.

Combine clarified butter (or oil, if using), cayenne pepper, dark brown sugar, 2 teaspoons of kosher salt, and paprika in a medium-sized mixing bowl. This creates the Hot Chicken Paste. While the chicken is still piping hot, gently coat the chicken in the Hot Chicken Paste. Serve with pickles and white bread for an authentic Nashville Hot Chicken experience or serve with Maque Choux!

Maque Choux

Serves 4

2 rashers of bacon

1 small onion, minced

1 Serrano pepper, deseeded and deveined, minced

1½ teaspoon of kosher salt

½ teaspoon of black pepper

½ teaspoon of sweet, smoked paprika

Pinch of red pepper flakes

2 medium-sized tomatoes, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1½ cups of water

6 ears of corn, kernels cut off the cob

Small handful of basil leaves

In a cast-iron skillet over medium high heat, cook bacon until crispy and golden brown. Remove the bacon from the skillet, drain on a paper towel and crumble. Add onion, Serrano pepper, salt, black pepper, paprika and red pepper flakes to the bacon drippings. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic and water. Reduce heat to simmer for 10 minutes. Add corn and simmer for another 10-15 minutes until the corn is cooked through. Take off the heat. Stir in the basil leaves and crumbled bacon. Adjust seasoning to taste.

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252 thoughts on “A BUGGY WITH A VIEW + A LODGE CAST IRON GIVEAWAY”

Usually a lurker on this site, but for a Lodge pan what the hey. BTW, live in Thompsons Station and love to see your photos of Franklin. As for what I like to make in my Lodge pans, that would be very hard to say. I make biscuits and cornbread all the time in the frying pans. Bread in my dutch oven. Melt butter in my little pan and my husband gave me a mammoth frying pan from the outlet store that works well on the bbq.

Clare,
Well hello neighbor! Don’t you just love the Franklin area? It’s magical. Sounds like you have a lovely collection of cast iron! I love how you know exactly what recipes that you like to make with each skillet.
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Amber

I was so happy to see this post! I live in Nashville and share your hot chicken adoration, but I’ve never attempted making it at home. I’m also on a bit of a chicken thighs kick, so this just may be fate. I’m a huge fan of Lodge cast iron, particularly for blackening redfish and searing steaks. Thanks for a great post!

I’m a vegetarian (who is drooling over your hot chicken pics), but cast-iron cobblers and cornbread would be great this summer, and I’ve always wanted to try making one of those eggy Spanish omelettes (tortas?).

I, too, love fried chicken cooked in a cast iron pan! I don’t have a pan big enough for chicken frying, but I do use a smaller one to make cornbread (yum!). I also use it to fry up bacon for shrimp and grits and salads. Thank you so much for the chance to win!

Even after living in Canada, Pennsylvania, Florida, and now Europe, I still call grocery carts buggies! One of the many things I like about growing up in North Carolina. I’ve always wanted a cast iron that can go in the oven to try making pizza in! The one I have now has too big a handle to get the oven door shut 🙂

Kristin,
How funny! I never knew that they were called anything else until I moved to Texas, and they called them grocery carts. Once you grow up calling carts buggies, it’s almost impossible to call them anything else! By the way, this would be the perfect pan to try to make a pizza in!
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Amber

Mmmm… I love making rice dishes where the rice at the very bottom starts to get crispy. Thank you for this post! I just moved away from Nashville two weeks ago and I’m already missing my hot chicken! This is exactly what I needed! 🙂

Cast iron cooking is the best. Grew up in Arkansas and still use cast iron that my grandmothers used daily. Fried chicken , veggies from the garden, even pineapple upside down cake are always favorites. New to your blog and it is beautiful.

I love to make puffed pancakes/Dutch babies/whatever you want to call them in my skillet! topped off with a little powdered sugar and lots of fresh fruit…mmm. perfect breakfast for a lazy Sunday morning.

I love love love cooking in my cast iron. I don’t know why people even own other pans. Our family tradition is Fried Pickle Friday – by far my favorite meal (yes, we eat it as dinner during the summer) to continually cook.

Robb,
Fried okra is one of my favorites as well. Whenever I got married, my husband stated that he hated okra. So one afternoon I was frying it up for myself, and I walked away from the skillet for a few minutes. Whenever I returned my okra was GONE PECAN! My husband had eaten all of it! Now, whenever he comes shopping with me and sees okra, he grabs a pound!
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Amber

Thank you for the chicken recipe, I’ll be making it real soon.
My favorite dish to make in my Lodge cast iron is Custard dip french toast. It’s my favorite because it makes my two little girls “so happy, like its our birthday”. Also, it’s incredibly delicious.

Sophie,
I’ve had the originals, which are amazing! But as I was developing my own at home, I wanted to balance out the heat with brown sugar, add a smoky element with smoked paprika, and more flavor by using clarified butter instead of the frying oil for the hot chicken paste. So there is a difference in flavor!
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Amber

I love cooking chicken of all sorts in cast iron. I love the pan you’re giving away – well, I love it from a distance since I don’t have one but maybe you’ll change that for me!! Thanks for such a nice giveaway!! XO Heidi

Hmmm… Can I say everything? I pretty much use cast iron for everything. I’ll go with the last thing I cooked in cast iron – paprika coated chicken with a sour cream “gravy”. I am definitely trying this chicken soon!

We moved to Georgia from CA at the beginning of the year. The move has inspired us to again cook with our cast iron that had been out away for years. (We were told not to use it in a glass top stove 😟). We are enjoying learning new Southern recipes as well as many other recipes. Our grandkiddo’s love cinnamon rolls, apricot upside down cake, chicken pot pie wedges, pulled pork as well as countless other meals made in CI. I can’t wait to try the Nashville Hot Chicken, I hope I make it as well as you do!

We bought our first cast iron pan nearly a year ago and absolutely love it! It is so versatile, using it on the grill is one of my favorite ways to use it. As far as my favorite recipe, well I feel like I’ve just barely cracked the book on all the experiences we’ll have with it but a go to recipe for us is the “cast iron-roasted red potatoes with onion and rosemary”…such a yummy side dish! I look forward to trying the Nashville hot chicken and Maque Choux. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Joy

While cornbread and fried chicken are a given, my personal favorite is cooking a pound of bacon in a twelve inch cast iron pan that belonged to my grandmother. Then I get to remove the cooked bacon, reserve some of the bacon grease to keep in the fridge, and then fry potatoes with onions and little bit of Tony Chachere’s in the remaining bacon fat. I have the best biscuit recipe EVER (and I searched for 20 years) to serve with this, eggs, and of course, buttery GRITS.

I am OBSESSED with your blog. I’m an Arkansan living in New York City, and reading your blog makes me incredibly homesick. My favorite thing to make in my cast iron skillet is my Great Aunt Louise’s jalapeno cheddar broccoli cornbread. The recipe was passed down from her mom’s mom when they lived on a tobacco farm in North Carolina.

Tara,
Thanks for the sweet words! The fact that this little space brings you back home, if only for a moment, brings me so much happiness! Also, I love that your cornbread recipe has such a rich past. It sounds lovely!
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Amber

So far my favorite thing to cook in my cast iron is homemade Italian meatballs. I fry them on the stove first then I finish them in the oven. It leaves them crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

Michael,
You’ve made me hungry for meatballs now! I remember the first time I saw someone baking meatballs on a tray in the oven. I was like,” Where’s the cast iron?!” I had never seen anyone make meatballs without browning them in a cast iron first!
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Amber

Brian,
I completely agree! Steak and fried chicken, no wonder you couldn’t choose just one favorite thing to make in your cast iron! If I were honest, I would comment like most people and say, “Everything.” I make almost everything in my skillets!
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Amber

Mercedes,
First thing first, I LOVE your name! It’s lovely! I always loved the name Mercedes, but I thought if I named a daughter Mercedes in the South it would come out as “Merrr-Sadies.” Second, thank you so much for sharing this recipe with me and the rest of the readers! This recipe for strawberry cobbler sounds amazing!
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Amber

Great story and recipes!
My latest favorite food cooked in cast iron starts with a pork tenderloin and finishes with bacon. Cut the tenderloin like making a jellyroll. Lightly pound it flat (I use a cast iron skillet as a pounder). Season to suit you. Layer with basil then top with mozzarella. Roll it up. Season the outside. Wrap it with bacon secured with toothpicks. Bake.

Good evening! I love your childhood story and OHHH your recipes above are saved and I’ll make them soon! My favorite (as of Sunday night) is “my” version of Chicken Fricassee made in my lodge dutch oven). Even the leftovers made my mouth water as they reheated today for lunch! The recipe changes each time as i create the dish using different ingredients (this batch consisted of some AWESOME habanero stuffed olives and handfuls of herbs from my back yard.

I just seasoned a “litter” of “new to me” cast iron this past weekend to add to my stash. Every meal is made better in them, i’m convinced! LOve, love LOVE Lodge products! That 15 inch skillet would be great to bring to our Salmon Fishing group camp out in July! Paella over the fire would no doubt be a huge hit and a hoot for a group effort in preparing it. I havent yet had the chance to try their steel prducts. Cheers! I’m crossing my fingers!!

I’m going to have to try this. (But I think I’ll dial down the heat to “wimpy NYer”.)

As far as entering to win that Lodge pan is concerned, my current favorite is a roast chicken with mini potatoes and rosemary, a recipe someone gave my wife and which I adapted to better suit my Lodge 12″ skillet.

When I was growing up here in Ohio every year at Christmas time we would go to Shelbville Tn. My grand mother would make a chocolate pie using her cast iron skillet just for me and another one for the rest of the family. When she pasted away years a go I was asked if there was Anything I would like of hers and I said I wanted her cast iron skillet. We still make chocolate pies from it and no amount of money could buy it from me.

Ed,
Thank you so much for sharing this story! It tugs at my heart strings whenever people look at something like a skillet and cherish it because it was the vessel that their loved ones used to feed them. In that moment, it goes beyond just eating, you are creating memories and stories that you will pass down, much like a cast iron skillet, for generations and generations to come.
x
Amber

Brent,
Yes sir! Cast irons are more forgiving than most things in life. You can neglect it, let it rust, forget to season it, yet once it gets the little attention it needs, it’s like new again!
x
Amber

i’ve just recently started using cast-iron but we are loving it for salmon on the grill, vegetables, pancakes and eggs in the morning. I’m really looking forward to growing my cast-iron collection and experimenting with new recipes

I have several cast iron pieces and cook, steak, blackened fish, chicken, etc. I guess I’ll have to say I really enjoyed making a Chef Paul Prudhomme recipe for barbecued shrimp in a cast iron skillet.

These recipes look amazing! I’ll have to try the Nashville Hot Chicken! A big plus if I don’t have fry anything! I love making skillet desserts in the cast iron (brownies, skillet cookies, cobblers) and steaks and burgers. It’s nice to get that grilled personality on a piece of meat cooked on the stove!

My girls, ages 8 and 10, love it when we make Dutch Oven Chicken. Chicken thighs browned on the stove top with olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper then add small red potatoes and more seasoning. Put in hot oven until chicken is cooked and potatoes are tender. Asparagus with garlic roasted in a skillet rounds out the meal. My kids love it!

I am going to tell you the truth. I own a couple of cast iron pans, but I don’t use them too much because the first one I used I almost “ruined” ( I know now you can never really ruined one, but it was scary at the time) washing it with my dishes 🙁
I know.
It was SO awful!
Anyway, lesson learned, but now I am super paranoid. I have started using them, but only in spurts. If I win, I promise to use it faithfully, though 😉 My favorite thing to make right now is frying hot sausage, peppers, and onions to make paella for dinner. Then, the next morning, I make eggs on the same pan. Two meals- both delicious 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway!

I also enjoy making pineapple upside down cake in a cast iron pan. Alton Brown has a great recipe.
I’m going to the 20th Annual Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburg, Tennessee this weekend. Lodge is one of it’s sponsors and also has their manufacturing plant there. For more info check out this website:http://nationalcornbread.com/

Did anyone actually try this?? I found it terrible. Even as big fan of cayenne hot sauce and spicy foods, I found the cayenne paste to taste terrible. Just really weird goopy texture and awkwardly hot with no redeemable flavor. I think the paste recipe needs some adjusting…. less cayenne, a touch more sugar, and maybe some mustard or thyme? And why add the paste so late in this process?? It needed to be added right after the chicken hit the pan….

I’m so sorry the recipe didn’t work out for you! It’s a play on Nashville Hot Chicken, which is fried chicken then tossed in a hot paste right after it’s fried. Nashville Hot Chicken is very spicy, but if you want a milder version you can add less cayenne and add more sugar if you like! I hope these notes help. X Amber